The new oil law in Iraq

Interesting that although the US always claims that the Iraq war is not about oil this pathetic article posted on Yahoo makes it clear that it is. The oil law has been drafted using US advisors and is in the interests of international oil. It is hardly surprising that there is no nationalisation and no petro-socialism. This article unlike others provides none of the detail of the bill. However the whole issue is more or less absent from mainstream press headlines.

WASHINGTON (AFP) -
Iraq's pending law on oil-revenue sharing, which the United States hopes will calm some sectarian tensions, will not nationalize the country's petroleum industry, the White House said.
US
President George W. Bush' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> President George W. Bush has made passing the legislation, perhaps as early as next month, a key step in defusing some of the anger fueling violence among Iraq's Shiite and Sunni communities.
"The hydrocarbon law is one that treats oil and natural gas revenues as a national resource and distributes the proceeds throughout the country," Bush spokesman Tony Snow told reporters.
Asked whether that meant it would nationalize Iraq's oil industry, Snow replied: "No. What it does, though, is it does collect at a national level the profits."
"It's no more a nationalized oil industry than the hydrocarbon law in Alaska makes Alaska a fiefdom of petro-socialism," said the spokesman, who indicated that US oil companies will have an opportunity to invest there.
"I suspect there's going to be opportunity. Part of the Iraq Compact is inviting bidding on business throughout Iraq from around the world," he said.